aristocrat

American  

[uh-ris-tuh-krat, ar-uh-stuh-] / əˈrɪs təˌkræt, ˈær ə stə- /

noun

aristocrats plural

1. a member of an aristocracy, especially a noble.

   Synonyms:

   lord, peer, patrician

2. a person who has the tastes, manners, etc., characteristic of members of an aristocracy.

3. an advocate of an aristocratic form of government.

4. anything regarded as the best, most elegant, or most stylish of its kind.

   the aristocrat of California wines.

---

aristocrat British  

/ ˈærɪstəˌkræt /

noun

1. a member of the aristocracy; a noble

2. a person who has the manners or qualities of a member of a privileged or superior class

3. a person who advocates aristocracy as a form of government

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• aristocrats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of aristocrat

First recorded in 1770–80; from French aristocrate, back formation from aristocratie aristocracy

Explanation

An aristocrat is someone from the ruling class, usually those with nobility, money, or both. Although not an aristocrat yourself, you may have the odd viscount on your family tree if you go back far enough. The word aristocrat comes from the Greek word aristokratia, which itself comes from the root words aristos, meaning "best," and kratos, meaning "rule." So, the aristocracy was the ruling class of (supposedly) the best and noblest people, and an aristocrat was a member of that class. Today the word can also be applied to anyone with superior standing: Count Basie was an aristocrat in the jazz world.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

aristocrat aristocrats

Born in Gloucester in October 1993, Cottrell's mother, the Honourable Fiona Cottrell, is an aristocrat whose father, the third Baron Manton, inherited a family soap empire, the Sunday Times reports.

From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026

When Alice Lockey, a well-read lady’s maid to an aristocrat, meets the bookish Charlie, a valet, the match seems meant to be.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Depicting the singer as a Baroque aristocrat clad in contemporary designer fashion, the portrait helped propel González onto an international stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

The buyback aristocrat strategy showed a hypothetical 14.5% annual return over 10 years, with only 13% tech weighting.

From Barron's ● May 7, 2026

“I think the aristocrat needs to understand why his behavior must be controlled,” Jorge said.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

The book is about colonisation and devastation, set against a backdrop of families left to die of starvation on estates owned by British aristocrats and landowners.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

Meghan Kobza’s “The Masquerade” unmasks the festivities of 18th-century London, where the commercial “middling sort” acquired the numbers and money to emulate the private entertainments of kings and aristocrats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

There were too many well-born women in Ebel’s flock, the unhappy wives of landowners and aristocrats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

One is to focus on so-called dividend aristocrats, companies that have decadeslong track records of making and raising payouts.

From Barron's ● Mar. 6, 2026

It was all about aristocrats and how attractive they .might seem on the surface but how vile they really were inside.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

Related Words

• noble